We only have three years left to avert the worst consequences of climate change, a sobering report from the United Nations warned on Monday.
Human activities are releasing heat-trapping gases, like carbon dioxide and methane, into the atmosphere. That’s caused global temperatures to rise 1.1 degrees Celsius in the last 170 years, and the planet is on track to warm roughly 2 more degrees by the end of the century, catastrophically endangering humans’ physical health, our food and water supply, the availability of safe places to live, and the survival of animal species.
However, there is still time to change our ways. That’s the focus of the new report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), authored by hundreds of scientists from across the globe.
“As long as you want to keep temperatures below about 3 degrees, we needed to peak emissions immediately, as soon as possible — ideally five to 10 years ago — and the latest, before 2025,” Edward Byers, an energy and climate researcher at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, and a lead author on the report, told Insider.
Anderson Soletti walks at his soy plantation affected by drought, in Espumoso, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, on January 10, 2022.Diego Vara/Reuters
If global emissions of heat-trapping gases peak by 2025, plummet to half their current level by 2030, and drop to zero by 2050 — there’s a chance the planet won’t warm past 1.5 degrees. In nearly 3,000 pages, the report lays out a playbook to meet that ambitious timeline.
Many of the measures in the IPCC’s roadmap are cheap, quick, and doable with current technology. Some, like improved mass-transit systems, offer additional benefits, like creating new jobs and addressing socioeconomic inequity.
“The global benefits of climate action exceed the cost,” Stephanie Roe, a lead author on the report and a climate scientist at the World Wildlife Fund, told Insider.
“It’s still possible,” Byers said.
Here are five straightforward climate actions that governments and businesses of all sizes can tackle right now.
Retrofit cities for electrified transit, biking, and walking
The BYD electric bus factory in Lancaster, California, on July 1, 2021.Mike Blake/Reuters
Cities and urban areas make up two-thirds of all global emissions, according to the new IPCC report. Redesigning urban transportation could cut about one-quarter of those emissions by 2050.
That means building housing near workplaces, so that residents have short commutes, and designing streets that encourage biking, walking, or taking shared public transit instead of driving personal vehicles. The IPCC also recommends running public buses, trams, and other transit vehicles on electricity rather than oil.
The report found that these measures would ultimately save money. They would likely improve local air …….
Source: https://news.yahoo.com/scientists-climate-solutions-solar-power-211512108.html